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| Hollie and I chilling |
I have never wished for luck in life; I believe you make your own. However, this being said I do feel very lucky. Not only have I met my beautiful girlfriend Hollie this year, I've had opportunity after opportunity thrown my way. Some may lead to something, some may not, but this isn't why I'm writing this blog now (I'll save that for when I find out which avenue to pursue).
I experienced another Christmas on the island of Lanzarote surrounded by friends and fellow triathletes where I cooked a full Christmas dinner for 15. Before this however I also had 3 days of preparation for a tasting menu on Christmas Eve. After organising both of these events I was pretty tired and ready for a break and I well deservedly enjoyed some celebratory drinks with the boys on Christmas Day.During this period I also had to say goodbye to Hollie who went back to the UK for Christmas with her family so my high also plummeted. I had intended to join her New Years Day, however after a nightmare renewing my passport it would be a miracle if it arrived on time. This would mean I wouldn't see her for nearly 3 weeks!
BUT...the best Christmas present/miracle happened. Shortly after the festivities of Christmas Hollie let me know that the passport was on it's way to Lanzarote and we had a small chance that I might be able to get back to the UK for the first weeks in the New Year. This made us very positive about the time apart...... But this is Lanzarote after all, things happen slowly out here. People come here not to be in a rush and the islanders here are no different. I just had to wait in hope...
I couldn't however get side tracked from another big cooking event on New Years Eve. So I put the passport at the back of my mind and tried to focus. This saw me push my ability to the limit and make a team that aren't all trained chefs prep and serve 140 customers with 5 food servings in two and a half hours. I hope you all just gasped then as it was hard work, but also fun. I was on hand to see every plate leave the kitchen with my watchful eye. It's been a long time since I've felt the buzz of service like that; hard, fast with everyone pulling together all knowing that once the service has finished there was a party still going on that a chef could get to! But instead, this chef (me) drove home dead on 12 watching the the celebrations and fireworks light up the sky. The reason why is because the day before a DHL note nicely passed under the door letting me know that I had missed a delivery and was required to pick it up at the office at Arrecife...it amazingly was my passport! I was going to the UK on the morning of the 1st January - what a start to 2015. It's hard to explain the feeling of excitement knowing I was going to get back to the UK after all, after getting so down about not being able to. The 3 days, 36 hours and 140 covers, felt like a molehill in comparison to the mountain I had to climb to get it sorted....So chuffed!
I am currently sitting on the flight back taking a look round thinking to myself I can't wait for the next 13 days. My first trip back in months and there is SO much planned. Happy 2015 all!
